SHANE WARNE has taken aim at what he says was Steve Waugh's "ridiculous" devotion to Australian cricket's baggy green cap.

Former Test captain Waugh was a passionate baton-wielder in upholding and enhancing the cap tradition before and during his leadership tenure from 1999 to 2004 but it did not go down well with Warne, who always preferred the alternative headwear - a floppy white hat.

Speaking during a commentary stint at the Oval with Ashes broadcaster Sky Sports on Friday the ex-Australian leg-spinner hit out at Waugh's insistence that all players wore the baggy green during the first hour of an innings in the field.

"He said that everyone in the first hour has to wear the green baggy cap. I said to him ‘I don’t have to wear my green baggy cap to say I enjoyed playing cricket for Australia, I want to wear my white floppy, I feel more comfortable in it.’ He said ‘no, we’re all doing it.’ I said ‘righto’.

"So we used to do it and I used to sit there and sulk at first slip for the first hour wearing this silly baggy green cap. I think it’s fantastic and everyone has pride in wearing the green baggy but you don’t need to wear it."

Australian Test cricketers first wore the baggy green in 1899 and it has since become the foremost symbol of the game in the country.

Something of an iconoclast in this respect, though, Warne does not buy into cap mythology.

He indicated his indifference to the cap's importance when in his "manifesto" on the state of the Australian game published on his website in January he finished part one by saying he was simply an ex-player who "loves Australian cricket and is passionate about the white floppy hat!"

On Friday he was particularly critical of the wearing of the cap by several Australian players to Wimbledon in 2001 to watch the men's singles final between Pat Rafter and Goran Ivanisevic.

"And just to top it off, I think Pat Rafter made the final at Wimbledon one year here in an Ashes series and (Waugh) wanted everyone to wear the green baggy caps to Wimbledon," Warne said.

"How ridiculous, and who did it? Justin Langer and a few of the guys wore the green baggy cap to Wimbledon, because they loved playing for Australia, and that’s why they wore the green baggy cap."

Warne's animosity towards Waugh is nothing new. It stretches back to when the then captain and tour selector Geoff Marsh dropped him from the Australian side for the final Test of the 1999 series against the West Indies at Antigua.

Waugh admits in his new book that the pair's relationship was never the same after that episode.

"I lost a great friend but gained fortitude from the experience and learnt categorically that knowing what is right and acting on it are two different things," Waugh writes in The Meaning of Luck.

"One day, I hope Shane comes to terms with the fact it wasn't about me not trusting his immense skill and innate love for the big occasion, but rather a common-sense decision based on facts and the key ingredients every leader must trust and rely on 'gut instinct'."

161 comments so far

so your with stupid ok. but you do know he is only doing it for the attention

Commenter

nikraf

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 12:47PM

You're with the guy who has a tiny brain, no class and no respect? Good for you.

Commenter

Jack

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 12:52PM

go for it warnie? please! by his own admission he said 'righto' and did it. so as warnie clings to what celebrity cache he had he takes a swipe at someone 12 years on?

Commenter

gutless warnie

Location

sydney

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 2:43PM

nikraf - I'm not sure he is doing it for the attention. It's more likely he just doesn't think before he speaks. I'm amazed he thinks he can casually slag off the baggy green and people will support him. Disgraceful.

Commenter

Mark

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 2:52PM

Still remember the cartoon from a few years ago, a bleary eyed Shane sitting up in bed with the thought bubble...'Now what stupid thing can I do today?'

Commenter

Greg

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 4:29PM

Warnie was only ever a spinner, Waugh was a great captain, notice the difference!

Commenter

Yehbut

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 5:44PM

Warnee Warnee warnee !!!

Commenter

Don bradman

Location

Adelaide

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 6:57PM

Ah look,Warnie and Bords spout so much garbage, don't they?

Commenter

Tom Callaghan

Location

London

Date and time

August 24, 2013, 7:47PM

The media spouts garbage to make our little lives feel more significant than it is. Then we comment on other insignificants to feel happy.